


Slowly but Surely

by Pidge1616



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Coming Out, Fluff, M/M, We're gonna pretend that Sora never disappeared after beating Xehanort, no beta we die like men, rated t for cussing, set after kh3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:06:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27803518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pidge1616/pseuds/Pidge1616
Summary: Riku and Sora slowly start to come out to everybody after they start dating.
Relationships: Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	1. Maybe We Could

**Author's Note:**

> I was sad one night and wrote this first chapter so I'm going to see it through lolol. I have no idea how long it will be, we'll see what happens I guess.

It was a quiet Saturday morning in the mysterious tower. Riku woke up first in the bed that he and Sora had been sharing for the past month. Their shared room had two beds, but after entering a romantic relationship they opted to just sleep in Riku’s.

Sora was clinging to Riku’s side like a burr, looking perfectly content. Riku smiled to himself. He loved being able to experience these simple moments with Sora. He loved everything about him, from his unruly hair to the way his body perfectly fit against his when they hugged. He planted a soft kiss on Sora’s forehead and felt him begin to stir next to him. Slowly, Sora opened his eyes and looked up at him. 

“Morning sleepyhead,” Riku said, planting another small kiss on his forehead.

“Morning.” Sora let out a huge yawn as he stretched. 

“What time is it?” He asked as he finished stretching.

“About 7:30.” 

Sora groaned. He liked to sleep until at least 8 on a Saturday. Riku giggled, rolling so that he was facing Sora and pulling him tight to his chest. 

“We have the day off today, so we can just lay in bed and rest for a while longer,” he said, playing with Sora’s messy hair. Sora hummed in response, relaxing in Riku’s arms. Riku was beginning to drift off to sleep again when Sora moved his head to look up at him.

“Hey Riku?” he asked.

“What’s up?” Riku asked back, opening his eyes to look back at his boyfriend. 

“When do you think we should tell everybody about us? I feel bad keeping secrets from them, but I’m terrified of how they’ll react.”

When they first got together they mutually agreed to keep their relationship a secret. Riku understood the fear of not being accepted all too well. He had realized that he was gay when he was about 11, and realized that he was in love with Sora when he was 12. It’s a paralyzing feeling, wondering if those you love most will abandon you because of who you love. Riku held Sora a little tighter to him.

“I know how you feel. I’m ready whenever you are. I can’t say that I know for sure whether they will react well or not, but I’d like to hope so. If you’d like, we could start by just telling one person and seeing how that goes.” 

Sora was quiet for a minute, thinking about what he wanted to do.

“Could we tell Kairi? She’s the one I feel most guilty about not telling.” Sora said quietly, looking at Riku with worry in his eyes.

“Of course,” Riku replied, leaning in to press his forehead against Sora’s.

“Let’s tell her today,” Sora said. Riku smiled, head still pressed to Sora’s.

“Yeah, let’s.” 

The two got out of bed to head to their bathroom to get ready for the day. They each took a shower and headed out to the kitchen to get breakfast before talking to Kairi. 

“Morning guys,” Lea said, sitting at the small table in the corner with a mug of coffee. 

“Morning Lea,” Sora said with his signature bright smile on his face. “Do you know where Kairi is?”

“I haven’t seen her yet today, so she might still be sleeping,” he replied.

“Probably. Both of you used to always oversleep on the weekends,” Riku chuckled, looking back at Sora across the kitchen from where he was making his coffee. 

“Rikuuuuuuuuu!” Sora was so adorable it made Riku’s heart flutter. He wanted so badly to walk over and wrap his arms around his waist and hug him while planting a playfully apologetic kiss in his hair, but he wouldn’t be able to do that in the kitchen until they jumped over a few more hurdles.

“Damn,” Lea said while laughing. “If I see her I’ll send her your way.”

“Thanks,” Riku said, still chuckling to himself, still desperately wanting to hug Sora right now.

The two finished making their breakfasts and returned to their room to eat. While they ate, they decided that they would text Kairi and ask her to hang out with them for the day. It seemed like Lea was probably right about her still being asleep. She didn’t reply until about an hour after Sora sent the message.

_Kairi: Yeah definitely! Do you have something in mind that you want to do?_

“She asked us what we want to do,” Sora said, looking up at Riku as he was finishing the last bit of his coffee. 

“Well considering we’re mostly meeting up with her so that we can come out we should probably go somewhere where we’ll have a decent amount of privacy,” Riku responded. 

“We could go to the beach in Twilight Town?” 

“Yeah, that should work.”

_Sora: Let’s go to the beach in Twilight Town! :D_

_Kairi: Meet in 30 minutes at the entrance to the tower?_

_Sora: Yeah!! See you then!!!_

Riku grinned as he watched Sora type the messages over his shoulder. Even when he texted you could always tell that he was excited from the excessive use of exclamation points. Planting a quick kiss on Sora’s shoulder, Riku got up to begin packing a bag to take to the beach. After they finished packing their things, Riku checked in with Sora one last time before heading out.

“Are you sure you’re ready?” Riku asked lovingly.

“Yeah,” Sora said, giving Riku’s hand a quick squeeze before dropping it to head towards the entrance of the tower.


	2. Kairi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sora and Riku take Kairi to the beach in Twilight Town to tell her about their relationship.

“Hey, guys!” Kairi was sitting on the stairs in front of the tower when they got there.

“Hey, Kairi,” They said. Sora ran ahead to meet her. The trio headed towards the tram to head to Twilight Town, laughing and joking around nearly the whole way there.

“I’m so excited to go to the beach with you guys! It’s just like the old times on our island,” Kairi said, beaming with joy. The three had been so busy doing their own separate missions that they hadn’t had a lot of time to hang out even though they had already defeated Xehanort.

“Yeah! This is gonna be so much fun!” Sora said, but Riku could see the underlying worry in his eyes behind that blinding smile. He hoped that things went well today. Considering this was Kairi they were talking about, he was fairly confident that she would react well, but there was still no guarantee. 

The trio arrived at Twilight Town, and when they finally got to the beach, it was nearly empty. There were a handful of umbrellas and blankets set up, but other than that they practically had the place to themselves. They picked a secluded spot and set up their own blanket and umbrella. 

“Race you to the water!” Sora yelled, taking off towards the ocean. Kairi and Riku followed Sora to the water, but he had too much of a headstart for either to beat him. Riku was just a step behind when Sora declared himself the victor. 

“I win!” Sora said, throwing his hands up in the air. 

“Only cuz you cheated,” Riku said jokingly.

“Nuh-uh, not true. That was just my pure speed.” Sora said back. Now it was him who longed to playfully plant a kiss on Riku's chin but mentally fought himself to restrain from acting on it. Before he would’ve had the chance, however, Riku slashed his arm through the water and splashed Sora.

The three of them splashed each other and swam around for about half an hour before they decided to return to the blanket for snacks. As Kairi began pulling the snacks out of the cooler, Sora looked at Riku, silently signaling that it was time.

“Hey, Kairi?” Sora said quietly. Kairi hummed in response as she continued to get the snacks.

“We have something we need to tell you.” Sora was looking around nervously, trying to look at anything other than Kairi. 

“Ok?” Kairi said nervously. “Sora is everything ok?”

“Riku and I are dating!” Sora said quickly as he intertwined his fingers with Riku’s to hold their hands up. He snapped his eyes shut. Riku looked at Kairi and saw that she was shocked. That definitely wasn’t what she was expecting to hear.

“It’s about time!” Kairi said. Now it was their turn to be shocked. Riku expected a supportive reaction from her, but nothing like this. 

“I thought you two were hopeless and would never figure it out. Tell me everything! How long have you been together? Who confessed to who? I need all the details!”

Sora looked up at Riku and the two started laughing. They had been so nervous and here it seemed that she had been anticipating something like this. Riku began to explain first.

“We’ve been dating for about a month now. Sora confessed first to me a couple of days after we defeated Xehanort.” 

“Yeah, I took him up to the roof of the tower so that we could look at the stars then I just kind of… said it.” Kairi chuckled at Sora’s addition to the tale.

“The thing is though when we got together we decided to keep things a secret from everybody for now. We were worried about what they might think,” Riku said, changing to a slightly more serious tone. “So for the time being can you keep this a secret from everyone?”

“Of course I can. Thank you for telling me about it, I’m so happy for you guys. Does anyone else know or is it just me?” 

“It’s just you for now,” Sora said. “We thought it was only fair that you were the first one we told.” 

"Thank you! I promise to keep your secret until you guys are ready to tell everyone. I'm so happy for you!" 

"Thanks, Kairi," Sora said, leaning his head on Riku's shoulder. 

______

After a few more hours at the beach, the trio decided to head back to the tower. They packed up their things and began to make their way towards the tram. Sora was so relieved that Kairi was so accepting of him and Riku and their relationship. He walked along the path, snaking his hand into Riku’s while humming happily to himself. Riku turned to give him a soft smile as he lightly squeezed his hand back.

Riku was never really one to openly talk about what he was feeling, but he always made up for it in the little things. A soft smile, a comforting hand on his back, pressing their foreheads together, the list goes on and on. Even if Riku didn’t say what he was feeling, Sora could always understand what he was trying to convey. It was like a secret language only for the two of them. Even now Sora knew that Riku was feeling the same relief that he was feeling. 

After a peaceful tram ride, the trio arrived back at the tower.

“Thanks again for inviting me out today guys! And don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.” Kairi pretended to zip her lips and throw away the key, making the boys chuckle.

“Thank you for being so understanding. We’ll try not to make you keep your mouth shut for too long,” Sora said hopefully.

“Don’t rush yourselves. If you’re not ready that’s totally fine. You guys can do it at whatever pace you're comfortable with, and if you guys ever need some backup, I’ll be there to support you in whatever way I can!” 

“Thanks, Kairi, that means a lot to us,” Riku said, once again squeezing Sora’s hand before they would have to let go to walk back to their room. 

“You guys have a good night. See you tomorrow!” 

With that Kairi waved goodbye and they parted ways for the night. On the walk back to their room, Sora was fidgety. He was playing with his crown pendant as he often did when he was feeling a lot of emotions all at once. He was both so excited and so calm at the same time. He was ecstatic that Kairi was happy for them, but also so, so relieved about that. When they finally got back to their room, Sora flopped face-first onto the bed.

“C’mon Sora, you know you have to get all of the sand off of you first,” Riku said with a soft smile on his face. 

“Ughhhh, I know but suddenly… I am so very weak… I don’t think I can move, you’ll have to carry me.” Riku could practically hear the shit-eating grin that Sora had on his face even though he couldn’t see it. But he would never get tired of it.

“Yeah, yeah c’mon you big baby.” Riku walked over to the bed and picked Sora up bridal-style. He carried him to the bathroom and set him down. 

“Thanks, babe,” Sora said, catching sight of Riku’s bright red cheeks before he was able to close the bathroom door. They had never really called each other by any pet names before, so he knew that he could get his boyfriend all blushy before he hopped back in the shower. 

After they had both rinsed all the sand off of them and put on their night clothes, they crawled in bed, holding each other close as they started to drift off to sleep. 

“I’m so glad we told Kairi today,” Sora said softly into Riku’s chest. Riku hummed in response and started combing his fingers through Sora’s hair to show that he was listening.

“Even though we only came out to her, it feels like a huge weight has been lifted off of my chest. I think I want to come out to the others pretty soon. Maybe we could do the king, Donald, and Goofy next? We’re both leaving for missions on Monday, so we can tell them before we come back. I mean, if you want to of course.” 

Riku planted a soft kiss onto the top of Sora’s head.

“Like I said, I’m ready whenever you are. If you feel like the time is right, then let’s do it.”

“How did I get so lucky to have such a sweet boyfriend?”

“Shush you big sap.”

“Look who’s talking!”

The two laughed and shared a soft, tender kiss before falling asleep in each other’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for reading! I'm starting a new job soon so I won't have as much time to write in the next couple of weeks. I hope to have chapter 3 up by Christmas!!


	3. King Mickey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mickey and Riku go to the Realm of Darkness and Riku has a gay panic about telling his mouse dad about his new boyfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I managed to get it done before Christmas hehehe >:)

Riku woke up early that Monday morning. He was set to leave for the Realm of Darkness with Mickey around 8, whereas Sora didn’t leave until closer to noon. He turned to look at his still sleeping boyfriend with a soft smile. He could never find the proper words to describe how much he loved his best friend. 

Riku quietly got out of bed to get ready for the long trip ahead of him. He didn’t have to worry too much about the possibility of waking up Sora. He was one of the deepest sleepers Riku had ever met. 

He finished packing up the rest of his things, double-checking that he had everything that he needed for the journey ahead of him, and sat back down on the bed. Whenever one of them was leaving early in the morning for a mission, they always woke the other up so that they could properly say goodbye. 

Riku lightly shook Sora’s shoulder.

“Sora,” he whispered into his ear. He planted soft kisses up his cheek in order to wake him up. Finally, Sora’s eyes cracked open, and dark blue eyes met aqua ones. 

“I’m heading out. I’ll see you soon Sora,” Riku said quietly.

“I’ll miss you. Be safe, and don’t forget to talk with the king.” 

Sora pulled himself up enough to wrap himself around Riku’s shoulders. He planted a quick kiss to the corner of Riku’s mouth. “I love you,” he said quietly. Riku smiled as Sora started to drift back to sleep in his arms as he usually did. 

“I love you too, Sora. I love you so much.” He softly laid Sora back down onto the bed and he was back out like a light. Riku picked up his bags and left the room to meet Mickey at the entrance to the tower. Mickey was there waiting for him when he got there.

“Ready to go?” Mickey asked with a smile.

“Yeah.”

__________

When they finally arrived in the Realm of Darkness, Riku got chills down his spine. Being here always put him a bit on edge, but he always remembered to remind himself that he was stronger than the darkness and that he had his own light waiting for him back at the tower. He smiled softly thinking about Sora. He couldn’t wait to finish up the mission.

The mission was only expected to be a couple of days since it was just a routine checkup of things to ensure that there was nothing unusual happening. 

“How have you been lately Riku? It’s been a little while since we last talked,” Mickey said. He looked up at Riku as they continued to walk down the dark and eerie pathway. 

“I’ve been really good actually,” Riku responded, trying to keep things kind of vague. He wasn’t sure how exactly to tell Mickey what he really wanted to say. It was one thing to come out to someone that he’d known nearly his whole life, but this was completely different.

Riku’s only known Mickey for a few years, and while he’s shown him nothing but kindness, he still wasn’t sure what his thoughts would be about something like this. Even though he’d told Sora he was ready when he was, he couldn’t settle the nervousness in his chest.

“That’s great Riku! I’m happy to hear that things have been going well for you since we won against Master Xehanort. Anything specific happen that made you feel so happy?” 

_Damn_ , Riku thought. He should’ve known that Mickey would see right through him. Riku was tossing back and forth the idea of whether or not he should tell Mickey now or later. In his gay panic, he decided to go with the latter.

“Nothing in particular really. It’s just been nice to have a break after everything that happened with Xehanort.” It wasn’t a lie, but it still wasn’t the whole truth. He felt a pang of guilt for hiding the real reason behind his happiness. 

Mickey chuckled. “It definitely has been great to be able to relax a little bit more while things are calm. Well, I’m glad that you’re doing so well Riku!”

Riku shot him a smile and they continued down the twisting road.

_______

After a long day of traveling, they found a clearing and decided that they would make camp for the night. They set up their sleeping backs and used a fire spell to create a campfire. While he and Mickey sat at the fire, Riku picked at the skin on his lips. It was one of his nervous habits that he’d been trying to break recently. When Sora caught him doing it he’d grab his hands and pull them away from his mouth with a disapproving Riku, no. He chuckled to himself at the thought. He really wished he could be cuddling with Sora right now. 

With the thought of Sora, he remembered that there was still something that he needed to do, and the anxiety resettled in his chest. He looked over and saw that Mickey was writing in his journal as he often did while they traveled.

“Hey, Mickey,” Riku started before allowing his nerves to stop him. It was now or never. 

Mickey looked up from his journal and looked at Riku with his signature smile. “Yes, Riku?” he asked. Riku desperately tried to figure out how to go about this. 

“What are your thoughts about people being in love with others of the same gender?” he asked. His heart was pounding. 

“Love is love no matter what form it takes Riku. It doesn’t matter whether it’s between a man and a woman, two women, two men, or any other forms that it takes.” Riku let out a breath that he didn’t realize he was holding. “Why do you ask?” 

“Well…” Riku took in a shaky breath. “I’m gay.” It was only part of what he needed to say, but it was a start at the very least. 

“Oh Riku,” Mickey got up from his seat to come to sit next to Riku and placed a hand on his shoulder. “That’s perfectly fine! I know that not all worlds are accepting of people who are different, so I understand your concern in telling me. I’m sure it took a lot of courage to come out, and I’m proud of you.” Mickey lightly squeezed his shoulder, and Riku let himself relax under the touch. 

“Thanks, Mickey.” he turned to face him as he continued. “Do you remember earlier when you asked me if anything had happened that had made me so happy?”

“Of course!” he replied

“Well, a little after we beat Xehanort, Sora confessed that he had feelings for me, and we’re in a relationship.” Riku turned his head away a little in an attempt to hide the blush that he knew was plastered on his face. 

“Riku, that’s great! I’m so happy for you two!” Mickey shot him a smile so bright that it rivaled Sora’s. 

“We’re still in the process of telling others, so you and Kairi are the only ones that know right now. Sora is planning on telling Donald and Goofy about it while he’s on his mission. Can you keep it a secret from the others for now?” 

“Of course. I understand the concern in telling the others about your relationship with Sora, but I have a feeling that they’ll all be behind you guys 100%!” 

“Thanks again, Mickey,” Riku said looking back at him. “I really appreciate the support.”

“I’ll always be here to help you out, Riku. No matter what.”

______

Riku and Mickey carried out the rest of their mission with ease. The heartless were few and far between and everything was as it should be. The two reentered into the Realm of Light into the blinding sunlight. Riku was relieved to be back again, closer to seeing Sora again. They packed their belongings into the gummi ship and began the flight back to the tower. 

When they arrived, they made their way to Master Yen Sid’s study to give their report on their findings. When they finished their report, Riku returned to his room to put his things away. Sora’s things were still gone. _His mission should be almost finished if it isn’t already_ , Riku thought. He hoped that he would be back tonight so that he could feel the warmth of his body against his as the sound of Sora’s heartbeat lulled him to sleep. 

It was the late afternoon now and he had time to kill, so he grabbed a book and went out to bask in the evening sunset. He sat himself down at the bottom of the staircase at the front of the tower and opened the book to where the little blue bookmark was sticking out. He began to read the tiny text, but his mind occasionally wandered elsewhere as he thought of Sora. 

After what felt like ages, he saw the gummi ship approaching the tower. He nestled the bookmark back into his book and waited as the ship safely reached the ground. He stood up to meet Sora when he got off the ship. Suddenly, the door to the ship burst open as Sora flew out.

“Riku!” Sora yelled and dove straight at Riku. He dropped the book and braced for the impact, and stumbled backward to keep the two of them from falling over when Sora inevitably crashed into him. When Riku finally got the two of them balanced, he looked down into Sora’s sparkling eyes.

Before he could say anything, Sora planted a quick kiss on Riku’s lips.

“I missed you,” Sora said, arms hanging around Riku’s neck. Riku gave him a loving, soft smile.

“I missed you too, Sora.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thank you for reading! I hope everyone has/had a great holiday this year even though we're in the middle of a pandemic. Based on my ideas for this fic, there will probably be two more chapters in this, so stay tuned!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Kudos and comments are always appreciated!


End file.
